Post by erik on Nov 20, 2022 0:23:59 GMT -5
The late 18th/early 19th century Czech composer Jan Dussek in in this week's Classical Works Spotlight with a dramatic Classical-era piano concerto that the world didn't known about until fairly recently.
Jan Dussek: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 12 IN G MINOR, OP. 49
While the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the classical music world were dominated by four titans—Haydn; Mozart; Beethoven; and Schubert—other composers created some sizable works of their own, though, due to the presence of these giants, they wouldn’t become known until nearly two centuries later. Such was the case with the Czech-born composer Jan Ladislav Dussek, whose life from 1750 to 1812 was right in the middle of the Classical, and early Romantic, periods of music. For much of his life, Dussek was known for his virtuosity on the piano, which in this period was making the transformation from the harpsichord of the Bach/Handel era of Baroque to the Classical era. Dussek composed a substantial amount of piano concertos during his lifetime, many of them something of a bridge between the Mozart/Beethoven form and those to be explored by Schumann and Brahms; unfortunately, several of them have been lost to history, and those that survived had a very difficult time getting an airing because of the entrenched popularity of Mozart’s and Beethoven’s essays in the form. One that did, however, albeit two centuries too late, was Dussek’s highly dramatic Piano Concerto No. 12 In G Minor, which he composed in 1800-01. Dussek may have modeled this particular concerto, now seen as a rediscovered gem of the form, after the D Minor (#20) and C Minor (#24) concertos of Mozart; and indeed, the dramatic force of the orchestration (complete with horns, trumpets, and timpani) says as much, even evincing some elements of the overture for Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni”. The rise of this work’s popularity, as with a lot of heretofore unknown works of the Classical period, can be attributed to the period instrument movement of the last half century, here personified by Andreas Staier and the German period instrument group Concert Koln.
Pianoforte: ANDREAS STAIER
Concerto Koln/ANDREAS STAIER (Capriccio)
Included:
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 7 IN B FLAT MAJOR, OP. 22
MARIE ANTOINETTE (TEN-PART TABLEAU FOR NARRATOR AND ORCHESTRA (Narrator: JEAN-MICHEL FORREST)
Jan Dussek: PIANO CONCERTO NO. 12 IN G MINOR, OP. 49
While the late 18th and early 19th centuries in the classical music world were dominated by four titans—Haydn; Mozart; Beethoven; and Schubert—other composers created some sizable works of their own, though, due to the presence of these giants, they wouldn’t become known until nearly two centuries later. Such was the case with the Czech-born composer Jan Ladislav Dussek, whose life from 1750 to 1812 was right in the middle of the Classical, and early Romantic, periods of music. For much of his life, Dussek was known for his virtuosity on the piano, which in this period was making the transformation from the harpsichord of the Bach/Handel era of Baroque to the Classical era. Dussek composed a substantial amount of piano concertos during his lifetime, many of them something of a bridge between the Mozart/Beethoven form and those to be explored by Schumann and Brahms; unfortunately, several of them have been lost to history, and those that survived had a very difficult time getting an airing because of the entrenched popularity of Mozart’s and Beethoven’s essays in the form. One that did, however, albeit two centuries too late, was Dussek’s highly dramatic Piano Concerto No. 12 In G Minor, which he composed in 1800-01. Dussek may have modeled this particular concerto, now seen as a rediscovered gem of the form, after the D Minor (#20) and C Minor (#24) concertos of Mozart; and indeed, the dramatic force of the orchestration (complete with horns, trumpets, and timpani) says as much, even evincing some elements of the overture for Mozart’s opera “Don Giovanni”. The rise of this work’s popularity, as with a lot of heretofore unknown works of the Classical period, can be attributed to the period instrument movement of the last half century, here personified by Andreas Staier and the German period instrument group Concert Koln.
Pianoforte: ANDREAS STAIER
Concerto Koln/ANDREAS STAIER (Capriccio)
Included:
PIANO CONCERTO NO. 7 IN B FLAT MAJOR, OP. 22
MARIE ANTOINETTE (TEN-PART TABLEAU FOR NARRATOR AND ORCHESTRA (Narrator: JEAN-MICHEL FORREST)